Yume Walks Away Champion of Persona 4 Arena at EVO 2013

The room was on fire during the final matches of Persona 4 Arena at EVO 2013. It was the game’s first showing at the popular fighting game tournament, and screaming fans filled the large room in which it was played. Unfortunately, the stream did not show all of the finals, but all of the good stuff was shown.

It was a real Japan versus United States tournament as players from each side of the Pacific went head-to-head in blistering, high-intensity matches — each one bookended by raucous cheers, and patriotic groups chanting “U-S-A, U-S-A” after every win by a player from the ‘States.

Eight players went into the fray, but only one could be crowned King of Persona 4 Arena. And it was a tournament that brought the kind of talent worthy of P4A’s grand debut.

Players LordKnight and Die-Chan began the tournament by mirror-matching as Mitsuru Kirijo. LordKnight, however, had far greater mastery of Mitsuru, and took the first match.

Each game that followed showcases what the top-eight Persona players can do. Player BananaKen became a crowd favorite as he pummeled through two players without breaking a sweat. LordKnight also drew much attention with his mastery of Mitsuru, though he was stopped during game five by Japanese player Yume.

But in EVO, there can be only one winner.

It was a very high-intensity match between BananaKen, playing as Shadow Labrys, and LordKnight, still playing Mitsuru. Both players proved that they were the best with their chosen characters. However, BananaKen messed up one key drop and LordKnight punished him, taking away the win.

The Grand Final was fought between Yume (from the winner’s bracket) and LordKnight (from the loser’s). Both players had fought earlier during fifth match, with Yume coming out as the victor. So it was LordKnight’s chance to make up for the prior loss.

However, while LordKnight fought hard, he was unable to return the favor, and was dominated by Yume.

Grand Finals Winner: Yume

Second Place: LordKnight
Third Place: BananaKen

Watch EVO 2013 tomorrow as Injustice: Gods Among Us enters the tournament for the first time.